


It'll Be Fine

by Somniare



Series: Phrase Challenge [2]
Category: Grantchester (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-02
Updated: 2015-04-02
Packaged: 2018-03-20 20:47:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3664389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Somniare/pseuds/Somniare
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Do you have the keys, please, Sidney?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	It'll Be Fine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Small_Hobbit](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Small_Hobbit/gifts).



 

The view from the top of the bell tower looking down over the village and beyond was lovely.  Below, the last of the parishioners were wending their way home after Evensong.  The slowly setting summer sun glared off the gathering storm clouds, creating a dazzling display to the west.  Leonard turned slowly.  To the north, the silver and green line of the River Cam and Grantchester Meadows pointed towards Cambridge.  Another quarter turn.  A line of very low cloud pinpointed the train to London as it made its way to the city through the patchwork of fields that stretched away to the south and east.

Leonard lifted his face upwards and turned into the breeze.  “It is lovely up here.”  Sidney was leaning silently against one of the parapets with his cassock fluttering around him.  Leonard joined him.  “Do you come up here often, Sidney?”  With the threat of a storm, Sidney had wanted to check the lightning rod and the condition of the roof.  It was the first time Leonard had climbed the bell tower.

“Not as often as I’d like.  Mrs M gets quite a bee in her bonnet about it.”

“She doesn’t like heights?”

“She doesn’t trust the stonework.  The tower’s been struck by lightning at least six times to my knowledge and Mrs M has little faith in the lightning rod.”  Sidney picked at a bit of crumbling masonry, and then pointed at a hole next to a carved face.  “Bits have been known to fall off in extremely bad weather.”

“Ah.  I see.”  Leonard took a step back as a strong gust of wind whipped around the two men.  He regarded the encroaching clouds.  “Perhaps we should go down.  In case there’s thunder and Dickens runs off.”

Below, the young Labrador darted between headstones, most likely chasing a butterfly.

Sidney turned and studied Leonard and then the clouds.  “You may have a point.  Let’s go.  I feel like a cup of tea.”

“I’ll be mother,” Leonard happily offered and headed for the open doorway that led to the narrow stairs.

Leonard started down.  He heard the clunk of the door closing behind him, followed by Sidney’s steps.  The rhythmic ‘thud, thud’ bounced off the solid stone walls, mimicking the low rumble of thunder.

At the bottom, the door was shut.  Leonard grabbed the handled.  It didn’t move.  He rattled it again.

“Do you have the key, please, Sidney?”

“Blast!”  Sidney clapped his hand on his forehead.  “I put them down when I was checking the roof so I couldn’t accidentally drop them over the edge.  They’re sitting on the ground just below the parapet.  I’m sorry.”

“Not a problem.  I’ll pop back up and get them.”  Leonard placed his hand on the banister.  Sidney shook his head sadly.  Leonard stepped back and stood in front of Sidney.  “Please tell me what the matter is.”

“You can open the door from outside without a key, but you need a key to get onto the roof.  I should have taken more care.  I’m so sorry, Leonard.”

“We’re locked in?”

“Yes.”

Sidney hammered on the door.  The sound echoed up through the bell tower and gradually faded.

Leonard pressed his ear to the door and listened.  “I don’t think there’s anyone left in the church,” he said quietly.  The bell tower was tall but narrow, and its thick walls seemed to creep closer.  Leonard wasn’t exactly claustrophobic, but this wasn’t a place he’d choose to stay.  He put on a brave face.  “Mrs M will come looking if we’re not back in time for supper.”

“Not today she won’t.”  Sidney sighed.  “Remember?  She left after lunch to visit her sister and won’t be back until tomorrow.”

Leonard sat down heavily on the stairs.

“I’m so very sorry, Leonard.”  Sidney sat beside him.  “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…”

“Oh, enough of that, Sidney,” Leonard said gently.  “Dickens is out there running around.  Someone’s bound to pick him up eventually.  They’ll go to the house, discover we’re not there, and come looking.  It’ll be fine.”

“You’re right.”  Sidney clasped his hands together, resting his elbows on his knees.  “So, what should we do while we wait?”

“Shall we play Twenty Questions?”

“Why not.”  Sidney grinned.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the prompt: “Looks like we’ll be trapped for a while…”


End file.
